(12 Jan 2019) Highlights of Today in History: Congress authorizes military force to expel Iraq from Kuwait; Soviet forces begin large offensive against Nazi Germany; First woman elected to U.S. Senate; Writer Agatha Christie dies; ‘All in the Family’ debuts on CBS.

Russians pay their last respects to human rights icon Lyudmila Alexeyeva, with President Vladimir Putin attending a memorial ceremony despite the activist’s criticism of his rule. Alexeyeva died on Saturday at the age of 91 after an extraordinary seven-decade career that saw her promote human rights during the Soviet era and in modern Russia.

Uzbek farmers are on the front lines of an ambitious state-led winemaking drive in the majority-Muslim country. A decree published by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s office in February calls for an increase in wine exports of more than 60 percent by the end of 2021, aiming to cultivate varieties from France, Italy, Chile and the United States, along with the traditional varieties native to the former Soviet countries of the Caucasus.

In Saint Petersburg’s largest communal apartment, people barely talk to each other. Living conditions here are dismal and most residents dream of leaving the place for good. Located in the centre of the former imperial capital, the “kommunalka” flat occupies the entire ground floor of a building, with 34 rooms coming off a corridor almost 100 metres (330 feet) long.

Helicopter footage captured a bird’s eye view of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, displaying the spaceport’s surroundings including the retractable rocket tower, testing facilities and the launch pad.

The cosmodrome was originally built by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s as the base of operations for the Soviet space program. Russia now rents it under a lease valid until 2050. The cosmodrome spans over 7,000 square kilometres (2,700 square miles).

The next manned expedition from Baikonur to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled for December 3.

A camera dating back to the Second World War has been recovered from a trench in southern Russia. And, against all the odds, one frame from the roll of film has survived. READ MORE: https://on.rt.com/9hqi

More than 50 years after its founding, the Nukus Museum of Art in Uzbekistan’s remote Karakalpakstan region still startles and charms visitors in the spirit of its eccentric late founder. But having survived Soviet censorship and predatory foreign art dealers in the 1990s, some fear the world’s second-largest collection of Russian avant-garde art, faces a fresh threat.